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Donor News - Summer 2011
In This Issue:
- Meet the New Philanthropic Services Staff
- Upcoming Event: The San Francisco Foundation 2011 Community Leadership Awards
- Supporting Events Through Donor Advised Funds
Celebrating the 2011 Koshland Young Leaders
The San Francisco Foundation honored the 2011 Koshland Young Leaders Awardees on June 2nd, celebrating eight college-bound San Francisco public high school juniors who are strongly motivated to achieve. These young leaders embrace their goals in the face of challenging responsibilities – such as being their family wage earner, caretaker, or household manager. They each received a $7,000 award for educational expenses to encourage and support them as they continue on their path of making truly meaningful change in their neighborhoods and communities. We celebrated not only the accomplishments of these young leaders, but also the great hope they give us for the future.
For more about this year’s awardees and a photo gallery from the recent celebration, visit our Koshland Young Leader Awards page.
Tiffany Schauer and Scott McDonald’s Courtney’s Foundation
Environmental Victories for a Cleaner Future
"When we see a need, we try our best to fill it. And we try to have integrity in helping, not hurting anyone in the process," is how Tiffany Schauer describes
what drives her and Scott McDonald’s philanthropy through the Courtney’s Foundation, a supporting organization of The San Francisco Foundation.
The ten-year-old Courtney’s Foundation is dedicated to creating systemic change through the creation and enforcement of laws. "We are trying to attack issues at the national level, rather than facility by facility or community by community," they said.
"Sometimes so much can be done for so little," Scott said. "Especially when a flash point comes up – a moment in an organization’s history where there is a unique opportunity, or where a maverick has come in and is ready to act. When we see those moments, that’s when we dive into action."
Courtney’s Foundation played a key role in a
recent historic agreement with the Tennessee
Valley Authority that moves the nation closer to
a clean energy future.
One of the first projects Scott and Tiffany supported in the early 1990s, through their Our Children’s Earth Foundation, was to facilitate a strategic change at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Since then through Courtney’s Foundation, they have helped create awareness about the need to restrict refinery permits to reduce asthma in the Bay Area, and funded a court case to remove diesel buses from San Francisco. At the national level, they have also repeatedly successfully sued the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update emission standards.
Most recently, Courtney’s Foundation celebrated a national success, with an historic agreement for public health, clean energy, and our national parks. Courtney’s played a key role in putting pressure on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for the past decade to phase out its coal-fired power plants or upgrade them to better pollution control technologies. TVA’s coal fleet is directly responsible for a large amount of the pollution that causes downwind states to violate soot and smog standards. The legal agreement moves the nation closer to a clean energy future.
Scott and Tiffany first came to The San Francisco Foundation to learn how a community foundation works, and to better understand the relationships between funders, grantees, and community organizations. "It’s been a really positive ten years of learning," Tiffany said.
They say they have gained a bird’s eye view of issues and opportunities in the Bay Area, which they found helpful to overlay on their philanthropic goals. They could be innovative in who they funded and how they invested their endowment – including through program related investments – and simultaneously appreciated the structure and guidance they received from the Foundation.
"We found a true partner in The San Francisco Foundation, where they were able to take our creativity and zaniness and put structure and form around it," said Scott. "They have been our guides in this process."
Meet the New Philanthropic Services Staff
We are pleased to introduce to you three new members of our Philanthropic Services team.
Shona Carter is a donor relations officer working closely with donors to provide strategic consulting to facilitate their philanthropic aspirations. With 12 years of experience, Shona comes to the Foundation with a diverse range of expertise from the private, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors. She is effective at identifying, engaging, and establishing formal partnerships, while also responding to changing environments. Prior to The San Francisco Foundation, Shona was an advancement officer for the Foundation of City College of San Francisco, and was the primary manager of The Clorox Company corporate fund at East Bay Community Foundation.
Jackie Anderson Downing is a donor relations officer dedicated to supporting the Foundation’s family of donors. Whether a long-time donor or new to the Foundation, Jackie is passionate about responding to our donors’ needs to ensure they meet their philanthropic goals and make a difference on the issues that are important to them. Prior to joining the Foundation, Jackie served in a senior leadership role at Gay-Straight Alliance Network and was co-director of World Bridges in Oakland.
Bobbie Chapman is the director of business development responsible for developing relationships with prospective donors and their wealth advisors. Bobbie has a 30-year background in philanthropy development, incorporating financial, corporate, community relations, fundraising, and volunteer perspectives. She joins the Foundation after four years at Schwab Charitable, where she provided education, counsel, and access to strategic charitable planning strategies and tools for individuals and independent advisors. Previously, she was the senior community relations liaison for American Airlines in Northern California.
For more information about Shona, Jackie, and Bobbie, please visit our Staff page.
Our entire team is here to provide you with service, answer your questions, and facilitate your giving and grantmaking. Please contact The San Francisco Foundation Philanthropic Services team at 415.733.8500 or donorservices@sff.org.
Upcoming Event: The San Francisco Foundation 2011 Community Leadership Awards
Please join us for an evening of inspiration, fun, and food at The San Francisco Foundation 2011 Community Leadership Awards Celebration. The annual Awards recognize individuals and organizations whose leadership has made a significant impact in their particular Bay Area community. We also invite donors to join us for the Founders’ Reception to honor and remember the individuals whose dedication and leadership inspired these Awards.
We are proud to announce this year’s inspiring winners:
Gonzalo Rucobo, co-founder and executive director of Bay Area Peacekeepers
John Santos, musician and cultural activist
Jordan Simmons, artistic director of the East Bay Center for Performing Arts
Bishop Yvette Flunder, founder and director of Ark of Refuge Ravenswood Family Health Center
When: Tuesday, September 27, 2011
5:00 p.m. – Founders’ Reception
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. – Ceremony and Reception
Where: Herbst Theatre
San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building
401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
RSVP online or call 415.733.8577
Supporting Events Through Donor Advised Funds
As we head into the fall event season, we politely remind you that when making a grant recommendation from your donor advised fund, you may not receive goods or services in return.
The IRS does not allow the Foundation to pay for tickets or auction items from a donor advised fund, therefore we cannot accept those recommendations.
You may support an event through your donor advised fund by recommending a grant in general support of the organization’s event, with no benefits received.
Our Philanthropic Services Team is here to assist you in determining the best way to support your favorite organizations’ fundraising events. Please do not hesitate to contact us at 415.733.8500 or donorservices@sff.org.